Rothfus, Lamb Address Opioid Crisis, School Shootings At Memorial Run

OAKDALE (KDKA) — A local family is teaming with Familylinks to educate the public on opioid education.

“Dave’s Memorial Run for Opioid Education” was held in honor of Dave Zamule, who died last year from a heroin overdose.

“Dave is just one of 60,000 Americans who died in 2017 … from opioid addiction,” Zamule’s stepmother, Leslie Evans, said.

Republican congressman Keith Rothfus, of Sewickley, is running against Conor Lamb in the newly formed 17th Congressional District. Rothfus says Congress has increased spending through the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act.

“We’ve got to be doing better efforts to interdiction,” Rothfus said. “We’ve got to be taking a look at the treatment programs we have out there. One of the parts of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act was to really start to measure the effectiveness of these programs.”

(Photo Credit: KDKA)

Lamb wants to provide more resources to first responders.

“This week I introduced a bill to give them some better equipment to detect fentanyl, which is a much, much stronger form than heroin and it’s hard to detect, and it’s really dangerous for them when they come across it at the scene of a crime,” Lamb said. “We’re just trying to get them the tools they need, the money in their budget to do this effectively.”

“We need to be looking at so many aspects of this — gaps in mental health, gaps in law enforcement, gaps in school safety,” Rothfus said. “Again, this is another issue where it’s all hands on deck.”

“Our efforts in that regard has been half-hearted and toothless,” Lamb said. “We need new legislation to close loopholes. We need to fix the background check system, and actually make the effort of putting our money where our mouth is on this problem.”